Emerson Royal says Porro's arrival at Spurs is 'healthy' competition

EXCLUSIVE: Emerson Royal insists Pedro Porro’s arrival at Spurs has brought a ‘GOOD fight’ and ‘healthy’ competition at right-back… with the Brazilian finding form since the £45m man’s deadline day signing

  • EXCLUSIVE: Emerson Royal enjoys a ‘healthy dispute’ with Pedro Porro at Spurs
  • Royal has produced two strong performances since Tottenham signed Porro
  • The Brazilian said he felt manager Antonio Conte ‘never lost confidence’ in him 

The arrival of Pedro Porro appears to have brought the best out of Emerson Royal who has produced two strong performances in big Tottenham games since they paid £45million for another right back on transfer deadline day.

‘A healthy dispute,’ says Royal. ‘As we say in football, a good fight. I want to play. He’s going to want to play too. The important thing is that we have players who are going to have this fight and the club does need that kind of players. We have some big competitions and we’re going to need everybody.’

Less than a week after Porro’s arrival from Sporting Lisbon, with Matt Doherty freed to join Atletico Madrid and Djed Spence loaned to Rennes to make way, and Royal seized his moment, performing brilliantly in a win against Manchester City.

‘Maybe my best game in a Tottenham shirt,’ the 24-year-old Brazilian told Sportsmail. ‘A game when I was able to keep my concentration and win most of my duels with Jack Grealish.’ On Tuesday, he produced another solid effort in Milan. In between, it did not harm his case when Porro started at Leicester, a day when Spurs crashed to a 4-1 defeat.

The new signing may require time to adjust to the strict tactical demands of Antonio Conte, and this will take longer than usual with the boss forced to step away from the club once again after a setback in his recovery from an operation to remove his gallbladder.

Emerson Royal has put in two top performances for Spurs since the transfer window closed

Royal embraces the challenge of competing for game time alongside newbie Pedro Porro

‘I believe Conte never lost confidence in me,’ said Royal. ‘We have been talking a lot since the beginning of the season. I made a mistake in a game, against Sporting if I’m not mistaken, and he talked to me. He told me to keep doing my job and that he trusted me.

‘We have a very good relationship. He wants to help all the players. He’s here to teach and I’m here to learn. I try to extract as much as I can from his knowledge and he charges me a lot as his athlete.’

Tottenham’s has been plagued by inconsistencies but they are still firmly in the race for the top four, two points behind Newcastle in fourth, and plotting a sprint finish akin to last season, when they squeezed back into the Champions League ahead of Arsenal.

Royal believes that Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte ‘never lost confidence’ in him

‘We’ve talked about it a lot internally,’ said Royal. ‘We are a team with great potential and we can compete and fight for big things but with inconsistencies this is practically impossible. We know we have to stay alive in all competitions and fight for everything.

‘In this final stretch, we can no longer have these moments of ups and downs. On the pitch, it’s up to us to concentrate at the top level. It’s all still very open. All the teams are close. A win or a loss can change a lot and we are going to fight for a spot in the Champions League.’

He is also painfully aware of Tottenham’s long wait for a trophy. It is 15 years since the last one, the League Cup in 2008. The Premier League is out of reach but they are in the last 16 of the Champions League, trailing 1-0 to Milan after the first leg, and go to Sheffield United in the FA Cup fifth round, later this month.

‘We know how important it is,’ said Royal. ‘We have big goals in all competitions. The FA Cup is a Cup we want to win, like all other competitions, but we do have hope for the FA Cup. And for the Champions League. It’s my first Champions League and I want to help the team go in search of that title.’

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